


Subtleties (or Lack Thereof)

by sunhawk (sunhawkflamesprite)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Related, Established Relationship, Humour, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-26 07:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunhawkflamesprite/pseuds/sunhawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kono has some words with Steve and Danny regarding their lack of subtlety (and tact). Coda for the end of 2.09</p>
            </blockquote>





	Subtleties (or Lack Thereof)

**Author's Note:**

> Just had a random idea bug I wanted out of my brain, based on a pet peeve I have about how the writers have Steve and Danny act around Lori sometimes. A different kind of fix-it fic, if you will. It was meant to be a funnier fic but it actually ended up a bit serious, hope it works for you! lol  
> AN2: All my love and eternal thanks to imaginarycircus for her kickass beta skills and how she's always so great at helping me to try to get better at writing :)

***

Steve and Danny stood in the hallway for a long moment, watching Max walk off with Lori on his arm, and Steve felt decidedly outclassed in a way he barely understood. Lost in thought, Steve didn't notice when Kono walked past them, took one look at their faces and snorted.

Steve blinked and refocused his confused gaze on Kono. While Steve impatiently waited for an explanation, she instead cleared her throat and smoothed the slight smirk from her face.

"What?" Steve demanded, his last shred of patience evaporating.

"Uh, it's nothing... boss..." Kono looked a bit nervous now, backing away slowly from both men.

"Spit it out Kalakaua, we're pretty much off the clock by now anyway." Danny piped up from beside Steve. Kono peered at them suspiciously before she nodded and relaxed back into a sardonic look.

"Lori had you two pegged from the get-go, is that why you two are always giving her the fratboy routine, to prove her wrong? Is that why your lip-licking once-overs could not possibly _*be*_ any louder and more obvious? I mean, it's bad enough getting the smirks and mental undressing from the straight guys at HPD...."

Kono's amused explanation trailed off uncertainly, and Steve couldn't help but glance at Danny to see if he had the same look of shock. Which he kinda did, if the way his eyebrows were trying to meld with his hairline were any indication.

"I just thought you guys were above that kind of thing." Kono gave them a tentative smile. "It's a diversionary tactic, I get it. Very strategic and probably very effective to everyone who isn't us, but doing it at Lori's expense, making her have to always be the bigger person and just ignore you two, is kinda unfair. You don't do that to me, and I'm hoping it's not just because you live in fear of my left hook, but because you're living in this century, right?"

"Uh, right." Danny replied a little blankly, while Steve carefully stayed silent: he didn't even know what he felt, let alone what he wanted to say. He'd never really thought about what they were doing with Lori, they hadn't discussed it or anything. It had just felt so easy to do, something that didn't require any real brainpower, which had been kinda nice after all the overthinking and worry Steve felt about this new thing he had with Danny. It had been something of a relief to slip back into the kind of machismo bullshit that he'd picked up in the Navy; it made him feel secure and reminded him of a time when the rules were all nice and clear and consistent. Before today, Steve would have said it was a win-win: it helped dispel any suspicion about them and gave him an excuse to rib Lori in a harmless way that didn't mean anything. Now... Steve was not so sure, thought maybe they'd just made things into a bigger mess or at least had created a new, more complicated mess.

Kono's gaze flicked between the two of them, obviously trying to gauge their reaction and having a hard time of it.

"....Just think about it, ok?" Kono finished with a sweet smile, and then she edged past them back towards her office. Steve didn't get why she'd looked so understanding at the end there, rather than mad - yet one more thing to add to his disturbingly large pile of Normal Social Things Steve McGarrett Didn't Understand. Steve and Danny watched her go, and Steve figured they were both feeling a strange sense of near-deja-vu: same feeling of bewilderment, totally new source.

"I think we just set a new record." Steve hadn't really planned on saying that, hadn't planned on saying anything, and yet it just fell out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Danny slowly turned to look at Steve.

"New record for what? Bad workplace behavior? Most oblivious to the effectiveness of our bullshit to the people we trained to see through other people's bullshit? Overcompensation of the Year award?" Danny ranted, counting off the numbers on one hand before breaking off to rub his hand over his face.

"...All of the above?" Steve muttered quietly. Danny broke into an embarrassed chuckle and nodded.

"All of the above. God help us, and out of the mouths of babes, too." It wasn't until Danny caught sight of Steve smirking at him that he seemed to catch the double-entendre, and then he groaned.

"Like I can just undo the thirty years I spent refining my straight guy routine with a snap of my fingers!" Danny lamented in self-defense.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it last night." Steve taunted, letting his eyes wander down Danny's muscled torso. Danny narrowed his eyes.

"Real subtle, Steve. No wonder Kono figured us out!" Danny said accusingly. Steve felt his jaw drop.

"Me? How about you? You wouldn't know subtle if it bit you in the ass!"

"Oh and you know all about ass-biting, don't you, Steven?" It was Danny's turn to smirk now, his blue eyes twinkling.

"See! You just did the same thing I did!" Steve exclaimed in triumph. Danny's smile faded and they stood quietly for another minute, Steve absorbing some uncomfortable thoughts about his behavior and their combined failure at any kind of discretion.

"We are pretty bad at this." Steve admitted. Giving Steve a long look, Danny slipped his hand around the back of Steve's neck and pulled until their foreheads touched.

"We are _*excellent*_ at _*this*_ ," Danny countered, squeezing the nape of Steve's neck for emphasis, the easy way they shared breath, the heat trapped between their bodies. "The minor details, the finer subtleties, all the extra stuff might take some time for us to figure out, but as long as we have _*this*_ \- that's all that matters."

Steve closed his eyes and made a contented sound of agreement as he breathed in the warm scent of Danny, then mumbled: "We should apologize to Lori."

Danny rubbed the short hairs above the nape of Steve's neck before he gave Steve a quick kiss.

"A capital idea, Steven. There is hope for you yet. Whoever said something about you being a Neanderthal was clearly mistaken. And it should be suitably subtle for us, so I'll go grab the bullhorn." Danny agreed with a smile. Steve shook his head, giving Danny a friendly shove.

  
\- fin -  
20.11.11.


End file.
